I Am
by Kybo
Summary: Oneshot. ... "Danny Phantom." He finishes quietly. He is looking away the entire time. ...


He walks slowly into the dark bedroom and shuts the door behind him

He walks slowly into the dark bedroom and shuts the door behind him. Not bothering to turn on the lights, he rips off his black dress shirt and tosses it into the corner of the room before trudging over and slumping down onto his bed. After a moment of silence, he rubs the back of his head and reaches over to his radio, flipping the switch to 'on'. A guitar rift and steady voice fill the room.

"…_Any time you need someone, somebody strong to lean on_

_Well you can count on me to hold you till that healing is done_

_And every time you fall apart, you can hide here in my arms_

_And you can count on me to hold you-skkkkkrkkkkkssst!"_

He rips the radio out of the cord suddenly and chucks it across the room, where it shatters against the wall.

He stares at the broken pieces of plastic for a moment before his entire body shudders and he buries his head in his hands. Drops of liquid run down his bare arms to his elbows, where they are absorbed into the material of his jeans. They seem to shine eerily in the moonlight that pierces through the window.

A faint light filters underneath his door suddenly and there is a soft rapping on the wood.

"Danny, honey? Can I come in?"

"Leave me 'lone." Is the muffled reply.

"Danny…" The doorknob turns slowly, and the door opens, exposing a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair wearing a dull black dress. She steps in and turns on the light.

Sadly, she gazes at her son, whose messy black hair is currently drooping down over his hands. For the first time, she notices several scars scattered across his back and arms.

'_Boys…_' she thinks vaguely. Slowly, Maddie steps over to the bed and takes a seat next to the teen. She slowly rubs his back in small little circles like she used to do when he was little. He tenses a bit at first, but slowly relaxes as she continues.

"Danny…" she repeats slowly.

"It's all my fault." He chokes on the words and Maddie pulls him into her, so he is now leaning against her side.

"No it's not. There was nothing more you could've done."

Danny starts to protest, then shuts his mouth. After a second, he starts again. "Mom, if I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret? Even from Dad?"

"What kind of secret?"

"Only a f-few people in the entire w-world know it, and if the information is found by the wrong people, it would be a…disaster…b-beyond imagining."

Maddie is taken aback. That isn't what she'd expected. She hesitates.

"Mom, please promise me. I-I've wanted to tell you for so long, but I've always b-been too scared. I need to tell you this."

She hugs him tighter. "Alright. I promise I won't tell a soul."

"You also need to p-promise not to freak out and to let me have my say."

Danny's mother shifts a bit, uncertain. "I promise sweetie. What's wrong?"

"D-do you remember my accident with the portal? When it shocked me?"

Maddie thinks back, then nods. "I remember."

"I lied to you about it. It didn't just turn on."

"What do you mean?"

"S-Sam and Tucker were there with me and we were just screwing around. I got dared to go inside to see what it was like."

Maddie opens her mouth, then shuts it and lets Danny continue.

"When I went in, I tripped over a cord and caught myself on the wall. O-only when I hit the wall, I hit the button that turned everything on. The portal turned on while I was inside."

Maddie gasps and puts a hand to her mouth. "But Danny! With a shock that large, you should have died!"

"I did."

Maddie's eyes widen.

"….what?"

"Well, I kind of did. I only died halfway, I guess."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know. But it changed me. It turned me into something that shouldn't technically exist."

Maddie hesitates, nervous.

"What?"

"Mom," Danny finally turns to look at his mother. She sees for the first time the anguish that is written all across his features. "I'm…..I'm half-ghost."

Maddie freezes. She looks at her son with a mixture of fear, love, sadness, and…suspicion?

Danny looks away from her eyes, but continues.

"At first, I didn't know what was happening to me. I would just randomly start phasing through things, or going invisible or something. But then I realized what happened. After that, I made a decision. I worked to improve my powers, so that I could protect the city from the other ghosts that came through the portal."

Something clicks in the back of Maddie's head, and her eyes round. She slowly raises a hand to her mouth.

"You-you're-"

"Danny Phantom." He finishes quietly. He is looking away the entire time.


End file.
